Synthesia Co-founder and COO, Steffen Tjerrild: the Future of Video, Trust, and Deepfakes
Today on the podcast we have Synthesia Co-founder and COO Steffen Tjerrild.Synthesia is an AI company that allows you to create professional videos with just a few lines of text. It’s now used by over 1 million customers, including +80% of Fortune 100 companies. Synthesia is a UK unicorn, recently valued at $2 billion,At the heart of Synthesia's exponential growth is Steffen. As the company’s COO, Steffen has seen the company through its inception to the latest funding round. Today we talk about text-to-video, product market fit, the future of deep fakes and how quickly you will be able to create your own Netflix shows... Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.
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34:19
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34:19
Rugby’s First Black Captain for Saracens, Floyd Steadman: From Care Home to Inspirational Headmaster
Today on the podcast we are joined by Floyd Steadman OBE.Floyd Steadman’s journey began in North-West London as a 10-year-old runaway, surviving alone after escaping an abusive home. Rejected by his own father and placed into care, Floyd's early life was marked by hardship, racism, and resilience.After discovering rugby, Floyd became the first Black captain of Saracens rugby club, rising through a sport where no one looked like him. Later, he became a respected headteacher (including of Tommy Stadlen & Cameron McLain's school!) an advocate for inclusion, and the man who first spotted the talent of a young Maro Itoje.This conversation discusses:Growing up in care and rough sleeping Breaking racial barriers in elite rugbyNurturing the next generation including England captain Maro ItojeWhy representation still mattersWhat it means to lead, and how you can be kind and decisive as a leaderFloyd was awarded an OBE for his services to education, rugby, and charity, but his real legacy lives in the lives he’s changed.Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.
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32:40
Former CIA Director, General David Petraeus: Hard Power, a New Global Order?
Today on Giant Ideas we’re joined by General David Petraeus — arguably one of the most influential generals in American history. From leading coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to running the CIA, General Petraeus has shaped the world on and off the battlefield.We explore his insights on global security, technological warfare, leadership under pressure, and what the future holds for geopolitics. This is a rare and wide-ranging conversation with a man who has stood at the centre of history. In this episode, we cover a lot of controversial topics, and there was not the necessary time to explore, follow up, and challenge all of them in this episode.Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.
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37:59
Scribd & Created By Humans Co-Founder, Trip Adler: How Can Creativity Thrive in the AI Era?
Welcome back to Giant Ideas! Today we are joined by Trip Adler, the Co-founder of Scribd - a company he co-founded with Jared Friedman, now Partner at Y Combinator. Scribd is a digital document library that hosts over 195 million documents, with billions of views a year.Today we talk about Trip’s next act: Created By Humans, where he is Co-Founder and CEO, on a huge mission to champion AI rights for authors. Giant proudly led the seed round of Created by Humans, and we invited Trip on to talk about this giant idea that affects so many people: how can creativity thrive in the AI era?In this episode, we talk about: what happens if we live in a world where only machines create art? Is AI the next IP frontier? We also talk about his early days pivoting at YC, why persistence matters, and the unusual way he earnt his first revenue…Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.
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31:18
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31:18
LinkedIn Co-Founder, Reid Hoffman: AI Will Give Us All Superpowers
Today on the podcast we are joined by tech titan Reid Hoffman. As the founder of LinkedIn, which Microsoft acquired for $26 billion, Reid is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in history.He broke through as a founding board member of PayPal, one of the so-called PayPal mafia alongside Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Reid went on to become a legendary investor both as an angel and partner at Greylock. He invested in Facebook’s first round and led Airbnb’s Series A.Reid operates right at the cutting edge of AI. He was one of the first backers and board members of OpenAI. He’s also on the board of Microsoft, which did a $650M+ deal with Reid’s startup, Inflection AI. You’ll remember Inflection from our interview with Deepmind’s Mustafa Suleyman, Reid’s co-founder.Alongside all of this, Reid has forged a path as one of Silicon Valley’s public intellectuals. Following startup bibles like Blitzscaling, his latest book is "Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right With Our AI Future.” Welcome Reid!Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.
Giant Ideas invites leading minds from tech, business, politics and beyond to explore the giant ideas that use technology as a force for good. Giant Ventures, founded by Cameron McLain and Tommy Stadlen, backs purpose-driven founders solving the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.
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